Bookroo Review: An Honest Look At This Popular Kids’ Book Subscription

We’ve been subscribed to Bookroo, on and off, for the past 3 years and it’s long overdue that I’m writing a proper review of Bookroo, the pros and cons and all the info that might be helpful to you in deciding if this children’s book subscription box is right for your family. Plus check out a 30% off discount at the end for new subscribers!

Though, I will say, I think that after having that many years of subscribing to it, that I can be even MORE helpful in talking about it with you because I have more experience with it AND I’ve done two age ranges in it! So maybe my procrastination really just makes for a better review.

I noted in my post about our favorite book subscription boxes for kids that this was definitely a favorite for me out of all the ones we’ve tried.

I think the two biggest factors of that are a) cost and b) how many of the books we’ve loved from it. But we shall get into that later!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info

Review of Bookroo

Before I get into the review (subjective) portion of this I’m going to share a little about what Bookroo is and how it works — just in case you still aren’t clear and are seeking out more info.

FYI: Get 30% off your first box of any subscription to a new club with code FIRST30

What is Bookroo?

Bookroo is a monthly book subscription box service for kids ages 0 through 10. Books, selected based your child’s age, will show up in your mailbox each month and are yours to keep.

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How does it work?

When you sign up, you will choose a box type that is based on recommended age for each box.

The three different type of boxes are:

• Board Book Box: 3 books per monthly box, recommended for ages 0-3
• Picture Book Box: 2 books per monthly box, recommended for ages 2-6
• Chapter Book Box: 2 books per monthly box, recommended for ages 7-10

Once you pick the TYPE of box you want, you pick if you want to prepay for the membership or if you want to pay month to month. They also have an option to do every other month deliveries if you decide you’d like to spread them out a bit or if monthly is too often.

You can check out pricing here.

Once you pick all that, be ready for book goodness to invade your mailbox each month! I loved how my daughter even at an early age would recognize that box and squeal when she saw that turquoise box (with the cute little kangaroo on it).

There’s a sheet that comes with each monthly box that talks about the selections and things that you can talk about with it. Also there is sometimes online things related to the selections they give a link for.

I honestly can’t say I check out the online activities but I do always appreciate the sheet it comes with.

My thoughts/experiences with Bookroo

As I said before, Bookroo is one of my most favorite children’s book subscription boxes we’ve ever subscribed to and it’s the one that we’ve done for the longest — from when she was about 6 months and onward.

That’s a testament to how much I’ve enjoyed it throughout all these years and as she transitioned into the next box up from the board box.

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What I Love About It:

1. The cost/value:

Cost, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, is a huge reason why this remains one of my favorites. I’ve subscribed to a bunch of them and this one remains to be one of the more affordable ones and I think is a great value for what you get.

2. The selections are wonderful and age appropriate:

It gets an A+ from me on discoverability of new and fresh choices. Truly we have discovered some FANTASTIC books and new-to-us authors from Bookroo. Our enjoyment of the selections is why we keep coming back — truly so many good books come from them!

They tend to go for newer books and hidden gems from the last few years that you may not know about which I really like because we are a family who owns A LOT of books and we’ve only ever gotten one we already owned. Maybe also a few I had been eying for our library run but only one we actually owned.

I also really appreciated how age/developmentally appropriate the selections were (at least for the board book and the picture book). I feel like, especially when Riley was in the board book range, I would always struggle while searching for books for her.

I’d look at book lists that had books on it that just were not even developmentally appropriate. But Bookroo helped me to find so many good selections that were PERFECT for the age she was.

It felt like it lined up to exactly where her little mind was and supported those things she was learning.

Their website also has great book recommendations, too!

3. The presentation:

I know that this is more of a vanity thing but I appreciate good packaging. With Bookroo the presentation is wonderful from the box (the cute turquoise kangaroo) to the fact that each book is wrapped.

It makes it feel really special and I appreciate those little details personally — particularly because a couple of the picture book club boxes I’ve gotten before are literally just a cardboard box with a loose book in it. The wrapping just adds that extra factor for why I love it.

4. The ease of cancelling:

I feel like sometimes services make you jump through hoops to cancel but it’s not hard to with this which I appreciate. As I said to start, I’ve taken a break for a few months from it and then started back up and it’s always easy.

5. How easy it is to gift:

Bookroo makes a great gift! Actually we were double dipping at one time, when she was kind of in between boxes age-wise, because we were still using our subscription for the board books and my mother-in-law gifted her the picture book box.

My mother-in-law isn’t the most computer literate and it was super easy for her to gift.

6. The service:

They are a well-oiled machine at this point with being around for a while and I feel like that shows. The packages are always mailed out on time, customer service always responds quickly and I’ve just never had any issues at all — quality wise, delivery wise or anything.

7. That they have options for families in different age ranges:

I have one child but it really stood out to me for looking at it as a gift for people. If you have a kid who is in board books and a kid who is in picture books you can either:

a) get their alternating subscription which will do the board book box one month and the next will be the picture book so you get a mix of each.

b) get a subscription box for both the age groups but get 15% off (you have to email their support email to take advantage of that)

8. That they don’t include cheap chotskies:

This is one thing I’m really picky about for MYSELF (and why I stick with Book of the Month). I just want the books. I don’t want random stuff that will clutter up my house….I’d rather buy what I want.

And with kids stuff — I don’t want anymore random toys that will break or get lost or just take up space. So I appreciate this one is ALL about the books.

What I Wish Was Different

I have some small qualms, if I’m being really honest. And, I think, when you are trying to figure out if something is a good fit for you, it’s important to know these things too.

1. I wish there were a little more human-centric stories/more diversity:

I feel like they feature animal-based books a lot more than humans. Which is fine. We love a good animal character and have found many favorites but I feel like only sometimes do we get human-centric ones and only a few seem like they feature kids of color or different abilities. I feel like it HAS truly gotten better in that regard over the past year or so but still wish for a better mix.

2. I wish there was a better policy about duplicates (or a way to prevent):

If you get a book that you already own, they do give you $5 off your next box if you take a photo of the duplicates. But it really does stink in the off chance you do get one you already have. I wish they could give an extra book next time or something.

Or a way to prevent it in the first place. Another book box lets you see spoilers for your child’s book if you want them AND let’s you swap one out if you already have it.

I feel like Bookroo makes me LESS nervous about receiving duplicates than some others who seem to have pretty common/popular picks but it really is such a bummer if it happens.

Should you subscribe to Bookroo?

I think if you are looking for an affordable children’s books subscription that picks out books that you probably won’t already have, Bookroo is perfect!

It’s the one I keep coming back to and have been pleased with the board book and picture book boxes. They really know their books and the selections have impressed me in both how much we’ve enjoyed them and how age appropriate the selections are — especially for the board book age which I struggled with.

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